Spurred by a press release on Southold Town’s longstanding policy of not enforcing federal immigration laws earlier this week, an overflow crowd of more than 200 people attended a Southold Town forum on immigration policy Jan. 30 at the town recreation center in Peconic.
Police Chief Steve Grattan and Mattituck- Cutchogue School Superintendent Shawn Petretti gave an overview of the department and the district’s existing policies for interacting with federal immigration enforcement.
In short, said the police chief, local law enforcement does not have the authority to enforce federal immigration policy but does cooperate and coordinate with other law enforcement agencies and “provide assistance where needed.”
He added that the department is committed to “the fair enforcement of the law, treating all individuals with dignity and providing equal service to everyone, regardless of immigration status. Our goal is to have every person, regardless of whether a resident or visitor, feel comfortable interacting with police officers.”
“Our top priority is ensuring that crime victims and witnesses feel safe in reporting incidents and cooperating with law enforcement,” he said. “Immigration status should not discourage anyone from reaching out for help.”
Questions were written on index cards read by Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski, who applauded the turnout and civility at the informational forum, which lasted about 30 minutes and did not include commentary from the public.
“Because we take public safety very seriously, we are here tonight,” said Mr. Krupski. Four of the five Town Council members were in attendance, and he acknowledged Councilwoman and Justice Louisa Evans, who was on Fishers Island. “We have all sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States and we take our role in this capacity very seriously.”
“It is heartening to see this kind of community participation,” he added. “This is most encouraging.”
Representatives fielded questions about how residents can protect their immigrant neighbors; whether churches, schools and hospitals can call local police for help if immigration agents are on their doorstep; and the difference between civil and criminal offenses relating to immigration.
The first question asked what people can do to help and protect their undocumented friends and neighbors from deportation.
“If an undocumented immigrant is arrested by us for a crime, they are fingerprinted, and those fingerprints go to DCJS [New York Division of Criminal Justice Services] and they’re shared with the FBI and federal agencies are notified, so I think it’s important that people abide by the law,” said Chief Grattan. “Currently, from what I understand, Immigration and Customs agents are looking for criminals, so if somebody is residing with a known drug dealer or gang member or somebody who has criminal tendencies, then it would be in their best interest to probably move out of that residence.”
The new federal administration announced last week that it will allow immigration agencies to make arrests at “sensitive locations” like schools, churches and hospitals, reversing policy established in 2011.
That move led the Riverhead Central School District to issue a letter last week upholding New York State Board of Education policy to not allow ICE agents to enter New York schools without first involving the School Superintendent and District Attorney in reviewing their documents to determine whether they have a judicial warrant and sufficient reason to enter the school.
Mr. Petretti echoed that guidance at the Southold forum, adding that his fellow superintendents throughout the East End are following state guidelines on this issue.
Local advocates for immigrant rights have been advising anyone who is questioned by immigration agents to ask to see a warrant — which is only valid if signed by a judge — and to remember that they have a right to remain silent and ask for an attorney.
When asked if town police would defend residents from immigration agents who visit sensitive locations, Mr. Grattan said that the Southold Police will always respond if someone calls 911, and will “investigate and document” any incident for which that they are called.
“I don’t know that we’re going to intervene in a federal law enforcement officer’s work,” he said.
“They shouldn’t be in schools unless they have a warrant,” he said of immigration agents. “Churches are private, and a representative of a church does not have to allow them to come in, and that goes with the hospital.”
He added that he would be meeting later that week with the administration at Stony Brook Eastern Long Hospital to discuss how changes in federal policy could impact them.
When asked what people should do if ICE knocked on their door and asked for information about their neighbors, Mr. Grattan said “if you want to speak to ICE, you can. You don’t have to. You are protected by the Constitution. You don’t have to give up any information you don’t want to.”
“We don’t ask immigration status” of people who call the police, he said, adding that part of the reason the town held the forum was to ensure that immigrants here feel comfortable reporting crimes and going to the hospital and otherwise seeking assistance they need.
“We want to let the immigrant population know they don’t have to fear Southold police officers,” he said. “We are not concerned with their immigration status.”
When asked if Southold Police would alert the public if an ICE raid is planned, Mr. Grattan said ICE rarely shares information on its enforcement actions with local police, and the town police does not share or often even have knowledge of when an ICE raid may occur.
“More than likely, they are looking for criminals,” he said. “I don’t think it would be a best practice to alert the town. I think it would also create hysteria.”
“ICE doe not have to give us any heads up at all,” he added. “They do not have to let local law enforcement know that they are coming into our jurisdiction. They have come out here in the past and not said anything to us and performed a raid and left, without ever exchanging any information with local law enforcement.”
When asked if Southold is a ‘sanctuary city,’ members of the panel shook their heads.
“I don’t think we’re defined by anything like this,” said Mr. Krupski, the town supervisor.
“I was very pleased to see a lot of people come out and care about the community,” said Mr. Krupski after the event. “We did the best we could of answering a lot of the questions.”
“I thought it was important for us, as police commissioners, as responsible people, to have the community here to explain in person, ‘this is what our role is, and that’s not our role,’ just to clear the community’s head on those things,” he added. “There was so much stuff going around before this.”
Mr. Krupski had sent out a press release early this week announcing the meeting and affirming the town’s longstanding policy of not assisting with immigration enforcement and treating anyone who interacts with the police with dignity. He issued a clarification the following day saying the town will not obstruct the federal government and “will support all law enforcement efforts to remove criminals from our community.”
His first press release, he said, “did a terrible job of getting people angry, so we put out the second press release so we could clarify. The first one should have just said ‘we’re having a meeting. Come to the meeting, but I got ahead of myself…. It was clear that people didn’t understand what we are doing.”
“If you need police assistance, you call the police, absolutely,” said Mr. Krupski. He added that, for people who are living in uncertain situations regarding the status of their documents, “I don’t know how you would get the messaging that you’d be comfortable with right now.”
“It’s too soon to tell,” he said.
Keep Independent News on the East End
The Beacon is able to provide all of our content online free of charge thanks to support from our readers. Be a vital part of keeping our community informed!
